Ive been a real fan of music for as long as I can remember and Ive always been into classic rock. Somehow I missed Neil Young and its only now (in my 25th year) that I was properly introduced. I read his biography and listened to his 4 best CD's - On The Beach, Zuma, Harvest, and After the Gold Rush. The guy is a great guitarist and a terrific lyricist. So ... the question - Whats your favorite lyrics? Favorite song?

My submission -

favorite lyrics "And I saw you in my nightmares / but Ill see you in my dreams / And I might live a thousand years before I know what that means" - Barstool Bluesfavorite song - Cortez the Killer (damn this song rocks). Vampire Blues or On The Beach are close seconds.

Four strong winds that blow lonely, Seven seas that run high,All these things that don't change, Come what may.But our good times are all gone,And I'm bound for moving on.I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way.Think I'll go out to Alberta,Weather's good there in the fall.Got some friends that I can go to working for,Still I wish you'd change your mindIf I asked you one more time,But we've been through that a hundred times or more.

If I get there before the snow flies,And if things are going good,You could meet me if I send you down the fare.But if you wait until it's winter,It will be no good'Cause that wind sure can blow way out there.

Oh AlabamaThe devil foolswith the best laid plan.Swing low AlabamaYou got spare changeYou got to feel strangeAnd now the momentis all that it meant.

Alabama, you gotthe weight on your shouldersThat's breaking your back.Your Cadillachas got a wheel in the ditchAnd a wheel on the track

Oh AlabamaBanjos playingthrough the broken glassWindows down in Alabama.See the old folkstied in white ropesHear the banjo.Don't it take you down home?

Alabama, you gotthe weight on your shouldersThat's breaking your back.Your Cadillachas got a wheel in the ditchAnd a wheel on the track

Oh Alabama.Can I see youand shake your hand.Make friends down in Alabama.I'm from a new landI come to youand see all this ruinWhat are you doing Alabama?You got the rest of the unionto help you alongWhat's going wrong?

your thoughts & questions made my mind swirl.I got hooked about 1978 as a teenager and he is the one artist I know I'll hold forever. His music can be so big, fun, strange, rockin', you name it, but he really gets me with the devastatingly honest, simple and intimate. I love the music but his lyrics can just turn me into a puddle on the floor.

I've seen him many times in concert and I've had the immense pleasure to stumble upon him relaxing outdoors, enjoying his family. He smiled and was friendly.

There are too many favorites to choose from but I'll copy the lyrics to one or two...

the second half of this song brings tears to me every... damn... time. (unplugged version)

"Stringman"

You can say the soul is goneAnd the feeling is just not thereNot like it was so long ago.

On the empty page before youYou can fill in what you careTry to make it new before you go.

Take the simple case of the sargeWho can't go back to war'Cause the hippiestore down everythingthat he was fighting for.

Or the lovers on the blanketsThat the city turned to whoresWith memoriesof green kissed by the sun.

You can say the soul is goneAnd close another doorJust be surethat yours is not the one.

And I'm singing for the stringmanWho lately lost his wifeThere is no dearer friend of mineThat I know in this life.

On his shoulder rests a violinFor his head where chaos reignsBut his heartcan't find a simple wayTo live with all those things.

Aurora borealisThe icy sky at nightPaddles cut the waterIn a long and hurried flightFrom the white manto the fields of greenAnd the homelandwe've never seen.

They killed us in our tepeeAnd they cut our women downThey might have left some babiesCryin' on the groundBut the firesticksand the wagons comeAnd the night fallson the setting sun.

They massacred the buffaloKitty corner from the bankThe taxis run across my feetAnd my eyes have turned to blanksIn my little boxat the top of the stairsWith my Indian rugand a pipe to share.

I wish a was a trapperI would give thousand peltsTo sleep with PocahontasAnd find out how she feltIn the mornin'on the fields of greenIn the homelandwe've never seen.

And maybe Marlon BrandoWill be there by the fireWe'll sit and talk of HollywoodAnd the good things there for hireAnd the Astrodomeand the first tepeeMarlon Brando, Pocahontas and meMarlon Brando, Pocahontas and mePocahontas.

There's colors on the streetRed, white and bluePeople shufflin' their feetPeople sleepin' in their shoesBut there's a warnin' signon the road aheadThere's a lot of people sayin'we'd be better off deadDon't feel like Satan,but I am to themSo I try to forget it,any way I can.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,Keep on rockin' in the free worldKeep on rockin' in the free world,Keep on rockin' in the free world.

I see a woman in the nightWith a baby in her handUnder an old street lightNear a garbage canNow she puts the kid away,and she's gone to get a hitShe hates her life,and what she's done to itThere's one more kidthat will never go to schoolNever get to fall in love,never get to be cool.

Keep on rockin' in the free world,Keep on rockin' in the free worldKeep on rockin' in the free world,Keep on rockin' in the free world.

There you stoodon the edge of your feather,Expecting to fly.While I laughed,I wondered whetherI could wave goodbye,Knowin' that you'd gone.By the summer it was healing,We had said goodbye.All the yearswe'd spent with feelingEnded with a cry,Babe, ended with a cry,Babe, ended with a cry.

I tried so hard to standAs I stumbledand fell to the ground.So hard to laugh as I fumbledAnd reached for the love I found,Knowin' it was gone.If I never lived without you,Now you know I'd die.If I never said I loved you,Now you know I'd try,Babe, now you know I'd try.Babe, now you know I'd try,Babe.

This old guitar ain't mine to keepJust taking care of it nowIt's been around for years and yearsJust waiting in its old caseIt's been up and down the country roadsIt's brought a tear and a smileIt's seen its share of dreams and hopesAnd never went out of styleThe more I play it, the better it soundsIt cries when I leave it aloneSilently it waits for meOr someone else I suppose

This old guitarThis old guitarThis old guitar

This old guitar has caught some breaksBut it never searched for goldIt can't be blamed for my mistakesIt only does what it's toldIt's been a messenger in times of troubleIn times of hope and fearWhen I get drunk and seeing doubleIt jumps behind the wheel and steers

This old guitar ain't mine to keepIt's mine to play for a whileThis old guitar ain't mine to keepIt's only mine for a while

Look out, Mama,there's a white boatcomin' up the riverWith a big red beacon,and a flag,and a man on the railI think you'd better call John,'Cause it don'tlook like they're hereto deliver the mailAnd it's less than a mile awayI hope they didn't come to stayIt's got numbers on the sideand a gunAnd it's makin' big waves.Daddy's gone,my brother's out huntingin the mountainsBig John's been drinkingsince the river took Emmy-LouSo the powers that beleft me hereto do the thinkin'And I just turned twenty-twoI was wonderin' what to doAnd the closer they got,The more those feelings grew.Daddy's rifle in my handfelt reassurin'He told me,Red means run, son,numbers add up to nothin'But when the first shothit the docks I saw it comin'Raised my rifle to my eyeNever stopped to wonder why.Then I saw black,And my face splashed in the sky.Shelter me from the powderand the fingerCover me with the thoughtthat pulled the triggerThink of meas one you'd never figuredWould fade away so youngWith so much left undoneRemember me to my love,I know I'll miss her.

Oh, hello Mr. Soul,I dropped byto pick up a reasonFor the thought that I caughtthat my headis the event of the seasonWhy in crowds just a traceof my facecould seem so pleasin'I'll cop out to the change,but a strangeris putting the tease on.

I was down on a frownwhen the messengerbrought me a letterI was raised by the praiseof a fanwho said I upset herAny girl in the worldcould have easilyknown me betterShe said, You're strange,but don't change,and I let her.

In a while will the smileon my faceturn to plaster?Stick around while the clownwho is sickdoes the trick of disasterFor the race of my headand my faceis moving much fasterIs it strange I should change?I don't know,why don't you ask her?

I only saw Neil once in concert: 1987 in Atlanta. The tour was billed as "The World's Third Greatest Garage Band" and the Atlanta show was fantastic. It began with a garage door (which was actually a curtain) raising, complete with sound effects, and Neil was there all alone with an acoustic guitar. The first 90 minutes he played his acoustic songs. After the intermission the "door" opened again and there was Neil with Crazy Horse and for another 90 minutes they rocked. The show concluded with two encores.

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